Darin Prescott has become a leader in his field

In high school Darin Prescott wanted to be a business education teacher; working as a nursing assistant led him instead into nursing, where he's now with the Mayo Health System....

By Troy KrauseEditor

On any given day Darin Prescott may be spending time at a clinic in Lamberton or at the hospital in New Ulm performing his duties in the field of nursing.Prescott, a 1987 graduate of Red-wood Falls-Morton High School, did not initially intend to be a nurse, but after seeing the way his first plan was going, he thought perhaps there was a better option for him.“In high school I wanted to become a business education teacher,” Prescott said.Yet, an experience he had while in high school led him in another direction.“I was a nursing assistant in Franklin,” he said, adding he had some very good registered nurses he worked with there who helped to mentor him.Prescott also spent time as a student nursing intern at the Redwood Area Hospital and earned an associate degree in nursing from St. Mary’s Univ-ersity in Minneapolis.He said his experience at the local hospital was also tremendously valuable.For the past 20 years Prescott has been a registered nurse, and today he works with the Mayo Health System out of Mankato.However, his role has certainly changed, as he is no longer serving the role of nurse.Prescott serves in a supervisory role today in the region as a nurse administrator. That role means he works with nurses in medical facilities, such as Spring-field and St. James, and helps to ensure the nurses in the system have the resources and education they need to do their job.“What I do is make sure the nurses I supervise have the information they need to perform their duties and offer quality health care to the patients they see,” he said, adding it is all about providing positive outcomes and patient satisfaction.The goal of a nurse is not only to care for the public but also to ensure they have the education they need to stay healthy, and helping with the education in prevention is also a key part of Prescott’s role. While he said he does miss the day to day time spent on the floor as a nurse, he sees his current role as one where he is helping others do those tasks the best they can.

“Knowing the work I do is helping someone else do their job helps me feel like I am in some ways still filling the same role I used to as a nurse,” he said.Prescott admitted when he first started in nursing he was one of a few males in the field, but today he said that has certainly changed.He said especially among those who are looking for second careers are those who look to nursing, and those who already have a four-year de-gree can get a masters degree in nursing and start at an entry level in the field.There are a lot more options in nursing today, said Prescott.There is also a de-mand for nurses, especially in rural areas.That means those who are graduating from high school should consider a career in what Prescott said is a very rewarding career.Prescott said he is glad he made the decision to become a nurse, and he has very much enjoyed what he has been able to do over the past 20 years.

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